The Revised Plan... He's Here :)

Well, let's just say that I didn't make it to induction date (which was supposed to be Sunday)... Baby D had other plans in store :) It was my first lesson as a mother that, indeed, this baby has a mind of his own!

I will post so much more later, but it is with amazement, joy, excitement, and all the love in the world that I introduce:

Maxwell (Max) Brian

Born on August 17, 2011 at 10:12 p.m. (sorry I didn't post this earlier - my iPhone would not allow me to post with Blogger, so I had to wait until we got home)

8 pounds, 5 ounces

21.6 inches

Spitting image of his Daddy, with a few features of his Mommy :)

I will post his birth story in the next week or so (I really want to hold myself accountable to this so that I remember all of the details!), but here's the summary:

- Contractions started at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, August 16 - they were consistently 1 minute long and 5 minutes apart. I was in pain.

- I labored at home until 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 17. I called my Doctor's office, they told me to get to the hospital. We packed, got ready, and made it to the hospital at about 3:15 a.m.

- I was only dilated to a ZERO (go figure), but the nurses could see that I was, indeed in labor. They needed to see me progress to a three to technically be able to admit me. The time between 3:15 a.m. and 6 a.m. was NOT a fun time... they made me walk around the hospital as I was in major pain, contracting constantly. I thought I was going to die. I lost my mucous plug as we were walking around labor and delivery.

- At 6:00 a.m., I was checked by the Doctor on call, and I was a 1.5 (seriously, a 1.5?!?! I was so angry with my body). They decided to admit me - at this point, I was due to be induced on Sunday, anyway, so they figured my labor would progress throughout the day and we'd be in business.

Here's where my summary will stop, as I owe this birth story all of the details. Long story made short, I was in labor for a total of 26 hours before he was born, the Doctors still don't know the reason why, but my cervix ended up doing the opposite of what it is supposed to do during labor... mine got harder, thicker, and swelled up. Besides the fact that my cervix was not cooperating and by 9:00 p.m. and I had only progressed to five centimeters, Max's head was turned and there would have needed to be significant effort by the Doctor to turn him, which wasn't guaranteed to happen. So, at 9:50 p.m., the decision was made that Max needed to come out via C-section.

Max was born at 10:12 p.m., and the moment he was pulled out of me, he started to cry and scream. And I lost it... right there on the operating table. ALL I could think about is how much we waited for him, how difficult it was to get to this point, and it was official... he was alive, I was a Mom, and I loved him more than anything in the entire world. I remember the anesthesiologist saying something to the effect of, "Tears of joy!" and it just made me cry harder. Yes, tears of joy, but also tears of every other emotion possible. It was overwhelming. They brought Max over to me, and from the moment I laid eyes on him, it was love at first sight. And he looked at me as if to say, "Hi, Mom, I am finally here."

Thank you to everyone for their prayers, e-mails, support, and love... it was and is the most incredible experience imaginable.

Birth story and PICTURES to follow soon... :)

XOXO

Mrs. D